Happy Birthday to Lady Annabel Goldsmith, who celebrates her 90th Birthday today! The daughter of the Marquess of Londonderry who married a nightclub founder and later the Goldsmith tycoon, Lady Annabel once wore pieces from the spectacular Londonderry ‘Gouttes de Perles’ Parure!

Londonderry Tiara | Londonderry Pearl Parure | Londonderry Diamond Stomacher | The Jewels of the Marchioness of Londonderry

The Londonderry ‘Gouttes de Perles’ Parure consists of of several brooches, earrings, and pendants, which can be worn as a necklace and a tiara. It was bought by the 3rd Marchioness of Londonderry around 1821, during the Marquess’ Embassy to Vienna.

The 3rd Marchioness of Londonderry seems to have worn some of the Pearls on her kirtle to the Coronation of King William IV and Queen Adelaide in 1831.

During the 1880s, the 6th Marchioness of Londonderry wore the Londonderry Pearl Parure for a print, and also attached various elements of the Parure onto her outfit when she dressed as Empress Maria Theresa of Austria for the iconic Devonshire House Ball in 1897.

The Marchioness also topped the Londonderry Tiara with the Pearls also worn for the Coronation of King Edward VII in 1902, when Lady Londonderry dropped the Tiara into the toilet and it had to be ‘rescued by a pair of forceps’.

In 1907, the then Viscountess Castlereagh wore the Pearl Tiara topped with the pear-shaped pearls and the large necklace from which other pearl-shaped drops were suspended when she presented her sister-in-law, the Hon Mrs Chaplin, to the King and Queen at Buckingham Palace.

The next Marchioness of Londonderry wore the Londonderry Pearl Parure on numerous occasions throughout the interwar years, most notably for the State Opening in 1927, when she was photographed wearing the Pearl Brooches on her skirt with the Londonderry Tiara, Turquoise Parure and and Diamond Stomacher. The Pearl Parure was also worn for numerous Receptions and Balls at the iconic Londonderry House in London.

During the 1930s, the Tiara of the Gouttes de Perles’ Parure was worn by the then Viscountess Castlereagh for one of the legendary Balls at Londonderry House in London.

In 1937, the Marchioness of Londonderry wore the Gouttes de Perles Necklace with the Londonderry Tiara and Diamond Stomacher for the Coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth at Westminster Abbey.

The Dowager Lady Londonderry continued to wear the family jewels, notably wearing the Pearl Tiara for a Ball at Claridge’s Hotel in 1954.

In 1962, the Pearl Tiara was worn by the Hon. Elizabeth Keppel, a granddaughter of the 7th Marquess and Marchioness of Londonderry for her Wedding to Alastair Villiers at Brompton Oratory.

Lady Annabel most notably wore the Pearl Necklace and Pair of Earrings from the ‘Gouttes de Perles’ Parure for the 60th Birthday of her husband, Sir James Goldsmith, in 1993.

Family Fortunes have changed and the current Marquess of Londonderry no longer has a family seat, but continues to posses the Family Jewels, which have been on permanent loan to the Victoria & Albert Museum in London for decades. The Pearl and Emerald Parures are displayed separately from the other jewels, in a drawer on the second floor of the Jewellery Gallery.

Londonderry Tiara | Londonderry Pearl Parure | Londonderry Diamond Stomacher | The Jewels of the Marchioness of Londonderry

Londonderry Tiara

Londonderry Amethyst Parure

Londonderry Pearl Parure

Londonderry Turquoise Parure